Aftermath
by emilyph
Summary: After Set It Off, Mal decides to sneak out of the party for some alone time to think. Ben finds her.


It was over. Maleficient had been defeated, Prince Ben had been crowned _King_ Ben, and all four of the previously feared villain kids had turned from evil to good. All of this in one day meant one thing: immediate celebration.

Despite the thick stone walls of the castle, the music and sounds of people dancing and cheering was still very audible (though if not slightly muffled). The party seemed as if it was gonna last all night (and at this rate it probably was).

After the main celebration had been over, a certain purple-haired girl, now known as the savior of Auradon and _not just_ the daughter of the Mistress of All Evil, had managed to sneak away from the party for a few moments alone without any questions thrown at her.

It had definitely been a hectic day for her with everything going on, like with her betraying and defeating her mother and finding out that Ben _had_ known about her love spell on him but still loved her whether he was under a spell or not.

To say the least, she was kind of overwhelmed.

The castle was large and unfamiliar to Mal as she roamed around, her green eyes glancing around the halls to look at the intricate decor as she went. She hadn't ever been in there before, meaning she got lost a few times. Okay, a lot of times.

Mal was currently walking down the halls of one of the top many, many floors of the castle when she noticed two large glass doors. They were decorated with gold designs and each had gold handles. She took a few curious steps forward, and immediately saw a breathtaking view: the sky night was illuminated with lights from the party, showing a pretty deep blue sea in the sky with brighter blue and yellow beams of light dancing around. Outside was a balcony, with two or three green potted plants along with a table and two chairs. The music was still very audible, even more so when the teen decided to grab ahold of the handles and pull. Unlocked.

She opened the door slowly before it was wide enough for her to fit through. Her heels made slight _clack_ noises as Mal steadily made her way to the table near the railing of the balcony. She skimmed her fingertips (they had been painted and manicured for this special event since she _was_ accompanying the star of the event after all) across the glass silently, before pulling out a chair to take a seat. For the next few moments she sat in silence as she listened to the celebratory party going on, the stars twinkling brightly in the sky as if they knew of the joyous events that had occurred earlier that day.

Mal was still in shock about everything that had happened to her in a mere matter of days. Not too long ago she was known solely as the evil daughter of one of the most feared villains, walking confidently up the same dark path her mother had once taken with her head held high, willing to do anything in took to make her mother proud. Now she was known as the hero of Auradon, defeater of Maleficent and the King's girlfriend, one of his most trusted companions and perhaps one day she would rule beside him as his and Auradon's Queen.

Only if she was lucky, though. And she might've already used up all her luck.

"Hey."

Mal started, an embarrassing (or at least to her) squeak sounding from her mouth when two hands landed on her shoulders, the voice sounding a little too close to her ear. She snapped her head towards it, and immediately pulled back when her face came a little too close to her boyfriend's, her sudden movement almost bashing their noses together.

His green eyes seemed to sparkle at her, amusement shining in them before he closed them and pulled away from her to laugh.

"That was an awfully cute noise for someone called 'The Princess of Darkness.'" He chuckled, smiling down at her.

She smacked his arm in annoyance, her face burning red. "You! You scared me! Don't just go popping up around everywhere without any kind of warning!"

"Hey, you scared me first with _your_ disappearing out of nowhere without any kind of warning!" He joked. "And I believe as the King, I can pop up anywhere I want." He said to her with mock arrogance, the corners of his lips turning up as he held his chin high.

"Don't go using that power too much now, _Lord Benny-Bear_." Mal teased. "And wait, who even calls me that?"

He ignored her question and instead pulled the second chair from around the other side of the table to beside hers instead, sitting down. When he turned to her again his face was calm, a small smile on his lips.

"You really did kind of scare me, though. I thought you had… Disappeared or whatever," Ben hesitated slightly towards the end, and gave his words a slightly nonchalant tone. "One of the guards told me they had seen you come up here alone. Why'd you run off to here?"

She pursed her lips slightly, keeping her gaze on the bright party lights glowing in the sky as she toyed with the ring on her finger, a habit she had unknowingly picked up. "I guess I just needed a break from…" She gestured vaguely with her hands. "everything going on. What about you, your Kingliness?" Her mouth twitched, suppressing a smile. "Won't everyone notice if the star of the party has gone missing?"

"All the much more when his wonderful date has gone missing, too." He grinned. "You should be down there with me, Mal. Partying all night long." They both shared a small laugh at his pathetic attempt at a joke and he took that as a chance to study her expression for a moment. "What's on your mind?"

"Huh?" Mal turned to him. "Nothing. Nothing's wrong, I just… needed a break."

"Now I don't doubt that, but I can tell that's not all, Mal." Ben said. "We haven't known each other long, but I can read you like a book. I'm sure it's the same for you to me."

The shorter girl let out a sigh and averted her eyes again, her fingers delicately tracing the design of Ben's family crest on the ring. Her face turned red slightly, and she struggled to speak, "I was just, um…" She let out a breath. "thinking, is all."

"Thinking about what?"

She turned her gaze to him for just a moment, narrowing her eyes. She looked away again as she spoke, "About… how lucky I truly am."

When Ben, who was momentarily taken aback at her words, kept his gaze on her she went to elaborate, "My childhood wasn't exactly the best. On the Isle, there aren't any friends or trust. Those are just words, maybe even insults to us and are only used by 'prissy pink princesses' and 'prim and proper princes.' All you really have are allies and people who are constantly stealing from each other. Even families, and I mean _blood-related_ families are usually never close. All children are mainly just used as minions, basically. People to carry on their parents' dirty work. If it weren't for the 'carrying on their legacy' thing and stuff, there would probably be no kids.

"Like my mother put it," Mal gave him a slight smirk. "the process of childbirth was 'the worst day of her life.' She even described it as 'pushing something the size of Gaston out of something the size of one of Cinderella's _hamsters_.' With all the bad days she must've gone through, _that_ must be truly horrible."

Ben stared at her sadly for a bit, not knowing what to say. Finally after a few minutes he decided to just say what was on his mind: "I'm- I'm sorry."

This happened to catch her attention and she snapped her head towards him. "Sorry? For what? This wasn't your fault, Ben."

"I know, but…" Ben was the one this time to look away. "I still feel responsible…." He didn't speak again for a few moments until he gathered up the nerve to ask, "Do you… do you blame him?" Ben looked at her again, his eyes focused on her reaction. He knew that he didn't need to say his father's name for her to know who he was talking about.

Mal let out a sigh. "I…. Honestly, a part of me does, but I know that it's not your father's fault. Sure, he was the one who banished us to that stupid island, but it's not like he meant to ruin our childhoods." Mal said honestly. Ben's eyes still shifted guiltily, and he reached over to gently take one of her hands into his. In the short time that they had been together, she noticed that his touch had always comforted her.

"Anyway," Mal started, "Your childhood here in Auradon was probably great, wasn't it? I mean, you're– you were the prince, after all. You must've had all you could ever want. All the others, too. But our childhood wasn't like that, like all sunshine and rainbows, you know? We all just followed in the path of our parents. What they wanted us to be and do, we did.

"But then…" She raised her eyes back to his, another small smile on her lips. "We came to Auradon."

Ben's green orbs widened slightly in surprise, but he didn't dare interrupt her.

"Auradon changed all of us, you all saw. And I don't just mean from evil to good," She laughed. "We all also discovered what friendship was like, what being on a team was like, what having a dog was 'actually' like and what being openly smart instead of hiding it was like. We _also_ discovered what strawberries and candy tasted like too, and I don't know about the others but that's one of the best things that has happened to me here." She smirked at him before turning away from him for the umpteenth time that night as if she was gathering her thoughts.

Then, she spoke, almost a quiet whisper, "And… I also discovered what _love_ felt like."

Ben's eyes widened again as he stared at her. She returned her gaze, pink dusting her cheeks as she gave him a small smile.

"You… you love me?" Ben whispered back. When she gave a tiny laugh and nodded at him, joy immediately overcame him. "I-I love you too." He replied before he laughed happily, standing up. He pulled her up gently with their still-entwined hands and into his chest, hugging her to him. She giggled, pulling away after a moment to slide her hand out of his grasp. She lightly smacked his chest instead, keeping it there. She could feel his heartbeat beneath her palm.

"I know," She said softly. They stared at each other for a moment, their green eyes focused on the other before Ben surged forward, pressing his lips to hers in their first kiss.

His lips were soft, much expected of a prince. To him, her lips felt no different, equally as soft and tasted of strawberries and sugar. Ben deepened the kiss, one of his hands resting on her hip while the other went up to tangle in her wavy purple locks. Mal slid her free hand up so both hands rested on his chest.

After a while, they broke apart and pressed their foreheads together. As they caught their breaths, they smiled at each other before breaking into a short laugh.

"Hey, we were looking all over for y– Oh, I'm sorry, was I interrupting something?"

At the voice the two sprang apart before looking towards the door. There stood a smirking Evie, her hands on her hips. She spun on her heel after a moment and began to walk away as she said, "Hurry up and get back to the party, everyone's waiting for their new King and _Princess_."

Mal quirked an eyebrow and frowned at her boyfriend. "Princess?"

"Well, I know you're my princess," Ben grinned at her. She rolled her eyes, smiling before he gently took her hand.

"C'mon, princess, let's get back to the party. You heard, everyone's waiting." He said. As they walked back out of the castle, she secretly wondered what it would be like one day if she were to become Queen. She smiled and shook her head.

Perhaps one day, she were to be.


End file.
